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The Best Books I Read in 2015

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Re: The Best Books I Read in 2015

#121

Post by jmknoll »

tlrobinson wrote: post #14

Cheatsheet, without the affiliate links (another commenter posted these with affiliate links then deleted it after being called out): The Road to Character, David Brooks - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081299325X Thing Explainer, Randall Munroe - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0544668251 Being Nixon: A Man Divided, Evan Thomas - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812995368 Sustainable Materials With Both Eyes Ope…

Just to mention - you can read 'Sustainable Materials with Both Eyes Open' on the authors' website (although I'm sure they wouldn't mind people buying it on Amazon as well). http://www.withbotheyesopen.com/read.php

Re: The Best Books I Read in 2015

#123

Post by bmelton »

mturmon wrote: post #79
maaaats wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And that is bad why? At least for me, it's a bigger chance that I would enjoy a book from that list than from a list made by some professional critic.

Speaking for music best-of lists, as compiled from votes of critics: I've found these lists are not very helpful in finding music I actually care about. It's frustrating, because there seems to be so much utility there. I've explained it like this: To get on the list, something has to be considered at-least-good by a lot of people, and this tends to reward (1) herd mentality; (2) lowest-common-denominator. The list s…

Moreso for music than books, but I personally find that most of my favorites tend to have at least as many people that hate it as love it.

Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea", for example, is an extremely polarizing album. Between Mangum's nasally vocals, beginner-to-intermediate technical talent, the inclusion of saws and theramin as instruments; it all adds up to a love/hate affair. I'm not a big fan of any of Mangum's other works, but AOtS has an allure that is just... indescribably gripping.

I don't go around recommending it, but when it comes up in my playlist, I find that I am simply compelled to stop what I'm doing and listen to the entire album, which is thankfully short, as far as albums go.

Re: The Best Books I Read in 2015

#125

Post by gammarator »

e15ctr0n wrote: post #3

Here are some other lists of 'Best books of 2015': Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2015 Amazon http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=13108091011 The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/entertainment/best-b... The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/books/review/100-notable-b... The Economist http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21679439-best-b...

I've made a habit of making my own "best books" list each year--it's a fun way to remember and distill a year's reading.

Here's the 2015 version: http://bellm.org/blog/2015/11/27/the-best-books-i-read-in-20...

Re: The Best Books I Read in 2015

#126

Post by knughit »

ar-jan wrote: post #67
nostromo wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a pretty lame critique. It seems they're purposefully reading the wrong study, since there is another study that focuses on Chinese students and backs up Brooks' article. http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=1995-... http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/n/x/nxy906/COMPS/CLT/cul... (full text)

The critique is of how Brooks handles reporting facts in general. The joke I quoted is based on a specific example Brooks gave, which is traced to its original source (Brooks mentioned one of the authors, Nisbett - see http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=478 ). I linked to the other page because it contains links to about a dozen other posts looking into Brooks' writing. There might be other evidence supporting h…

Besides other responses, language log is not a reliable source. I stopped reading when I got bored of the intentional misreading and mockery they use to position themselves as smarter than everyone.

Re: The Best Books I Read in 2015

#127

Post by knughit »

hullo wrote: post #10
Negitivefrags wrote: post #7

I'm always sad that lists like this from tech people never contain any fiction. I have often seen the sentiment that everything you read should have some kind of educational value or it's just a waste of time. Does Bill Gates not read fiction? Perhaps he understands that he would be looked down on if he were to include some in his list.

I think part of it too is feeling qualified to (publicly & prominently) judge fiction, which doesn't come as naturally to as many folks as judging "ideas" on a nonfiction list like this may – & particularly with the extended write-ups Gates is doing.

Right. book lists like this are in service of political goals. Far fewer fiction books promot promote a clear polical vision.

Re: The Best Books I Read in 2015

#128

Post by muddi900 »

vonnik wrote: post #18

Anyone who refers to David Brooks as "the insightful New York Times columnist" has lost me as a reader. I can't remember the last time he had an original, or even accurate, thought. http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/i-dont-think-david-brooks-i... Here are two good books: * The Korean War: A History - Little known fact: The US took the wrong side in the Korean War by putting the former officers of the Japanese imperial…

Germany redux? US dropped more bombs in Korea.

Re: The Best Books I Read in 2015

#129

Post by knughit »

ThrowayAccount wrote: post #69

I was once berated for posting a blog article on how to build a multitude of data structures, in 3 different programming languages. The reason for this was because "This is hacker news, and this article is first year computing science stuff." - Yet Bill gates reads a book about Richard Nixon, and suddenly it is the top item on here, even though it is in no way related to anything technical. I'm out, this place is mos…

You are paying too much attention to one internet rando's disapproval.

Re: The Best Books I Read in 2015

#130

Post by tedmiston »

e15ctr0n wrote: post #23
DenisM wrote: post #13

Did anyone read the books he recommended last year? Were they worthwhile?

In 2010, Bill Gates praised books by Vaclav Smil, a professor emeritus of environment and geography at the University of Manitoba.[1] It's true that Smil's books are packed with facts and ideas about ecology issues. But much before Smil, Buckminster Fuller had urged every engineer to ask the question 'How much does the structure weigh?' From that starting point, Fuller went on to design geodesic domes and other light…

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but these quotes make Smil seem almost neo-luddite.
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